Daugherty opens big door
Plans to become Sprint Cup’s first black owner
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty will become the first black owner of a NASCAR team in the sport’s top series.
Daugherty said Tuesday that he has become a partner in JTG Racing, which fields two Nationwide Tour cars, and that JTG/Daugherty Racing would have a Sprint Cup Series ride in 2009 with driver Marcus Ambrose.
“I’m proud that I’m the first African-American owner at this level,” Daugherty said. “I co-founded NASCAR’s diversity council about 15 years ago, and a lot of people have spent a lot of time to make this sport more inclusive. I hope this will open some doors for more minorities to become involved in this great sport.”
He said he hopes to announce soon plans for another Nationwide team for the 2009 season with a young local driver.
That is expected to be Coleman Pressley, 19, an Asheville native and JTG Racing employee who drives in the NASCAR Whelen Series. Pressley is the son of former NASCAR driver Robert Pressley and grandson of driver Bob Pressley.
Daugherty, 42, of Fairview, N.C., played basketball at North Carolina and in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He said he would continue in his role as a NASCAR analyst with ESPN.
NASCAR has boosted efforts to recruit more minorities and women in its corporate offices as well as at the track. Many teams have blacks and Latinos working in some race-day capacity, and attendance has increased in some venues.
Some things haven’t changed, such as the display of the Confederate flag at many venues despite the sport’s unease.
NASCAR’s first black female technical official, who was fired in October, filed a $250 million lawsuit in June accusing NASCAR of discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination. The 40-page filing by Bronx, N.Y., native Mauricia Grant with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York lists examples in which she says other NASCAR technical inspectors called her “nappy-headed Mo,” among other epithets.